CALEB NICKERSON
SHAWVILLE Nov. 25, 2019
On Monday evening, members of the Shawville Rotary Club were joined by a representative of . . .
the Kidney Foundation of Canada , who received from them a cheque for $20,000.
The majority of the funds (just over $19,000) were raised during the inaugural Pontiac Kidney walk held in May, explained organizer and Rotary member, Randy Russell.
“Sue Page, our president, decided that we would like to round that off to a nice even $20,000,” he said, noting that their original goal was only $10,000.
“Why not? Hey, he did a fantastic job,” Page said in response. “We need it in Shawville, we’ve got the dialysis. Let’s support him.”
Russell pointed out that the Rotary Club helped tremendously in the organization and execution of the event, which is the first that he’s put on.
“I realized only after the walk, how big of a task it was,” he said. “It took me a few weeks just to recoup. It was bigger than I had ever anticipated, but the outcome, that just keeps you going.”
Dany Babin, a Regional Development Director with the Kidney Foundation was on hand for the donation and spoke about what these donations go towards.
“We found the majority of money we receive goes towards research to help, one day, to cure [kidney] disease,” he said, adding that research has greatly increased the life expectancy of people with kidney disease, and also has reduced the time for treatments like dialysis.
Russell is a kidney transplant recipient, and both his father and grandmother passed away due to renal problems. Though his son also has the same diagnosis as him, polycystic kidney disease, Russell hopes that advances in medication will be able to ensure he has a long and happy life.
“I just pray as a father that this works and he won’t have to go through it,” he said.
Next year’s Kidney Walk is already planned for May and though Russell wouldn’t pin down an exact goal, he was confident the fundraiser will continue to grow.
“We were so absolutely thrilled with this, we’re very optimistic,” he said.
